The Worst Witch and the Leprechauns' Revenge
by Lokifangirl
Summary: After hearing that Maud wants to take up pranking, Mildred schemes with Enid to let leprechauns into the castle and have Maud take credit for their pranks. But once the leprechauns are inside Cackle's their magical pranks start to get out of hand. Mildred and her friends must team up to find their pot of gold before it's too late...and they take up residence for good!
1. Chapter 1

A/N: This fic is a bit of an apology letter to my readers for not updating my other stories. My life has been a bit hectic, and I went through a period where I had writer's block and could not make the ideas come when I had free time. However now, since watching Series 3, my idea factory whirred to life again and I will be writing a series of shorter stories, with this being the first one. Those will have priority, but I will try and update my other ones in the next few weeks. Thank you all for being patient and for your support of me as a writer. It means a lot! Please follow, favorite and review!

Mildred Hubble had never felt so at peace. It was a bright spring day at Cackle's academy, a day where the sun shone down upon the castle grounds ever so perfectly, where the gentle, warm spring breeze ruffled its way through the grass like waves in the sea. Her sketchpad falling to one side, she lay up against a hollow tree not far from the castle, watching the 1st years' warm-ups with Miss Drill. Just as she was about to add a final detail to her drawing, Maud sat down with a huff beside her.

"Do you think I'm funny?" Maud mumbled.

"What?" Millie laughed. "Since when are you worried about that?" Maud shrugged.

"I dunno. I guess Enid's just so popular, and she's always playing fun pranks. I don't know I feel like everyone sees me as some kind of stuck-up rule-follower" Millie winced.

"Noooo" she said smiling nervously. "No one thinks that" The pair looked up to see Sybil and Felicity chatting as they crossed the courtyard to their next class. "Hi Sybil!" Maud cried.

"I'm going to class, okay!" she said, speeding up her walk, with Felicity hurrying to catch up with her.

"See what I mean?" Maud sighed and slumped back against the tree. "It's hopeless. I need to do so pranking, like Enid. Then people will see how fun I am!"

"Well, it's the perfect time of year for that kind of thing" Millie said cheerfully. Maud furrowed her brow in confusion.

"What do you mean?"

"You know, because of St. Patrick's Day coming up and all" Mildred explained.

"Um, okay. I don't know what that has to do with pranks" Maud said.

"They do have St. Patrick's Day, in the witching world, don't they?" Millie asked.

"Of course" Maud murmured. "But it's not that big a deal. You usually just spray your yard and whole house to keep the leprechauns away, and lock up your valuables. Sometimes, Mum used to read me stories of Irish witches, or Irish folk tales, but I was always scared the leprechauns would come take my things away." Millie shook her head, her braids flopping wildly.

"But that's no fun! Leprechauns are supposed to bring gifts, not steal things! And they also love to play pranks- when I was little, my mum used to put green footprints all over my floor, or turn my lunch green. We also got to dress in green and gold to go to school, and look for four leaf clovers" Maud shook her head.

"Four leaf clovers are really powerful Mil. Most witches if they find them would save them for a luck potion, or an emergency. They can only be used once, and they are super rare, there wouldn't be much point in looking for them. But the rest of your traditions sound really fun!" Millie beamed, and went on to explain about rainbows and pots of gold and things like that, and though Maud liked the idea of gifts and candy, she wasn't sure about Leprechauns.

"I don't know Mil, my mum told me they are dangerous, that they are tricksters who only care about themselves. That's why we never really learnt about them- only how to keep them away. Witches and leprechauns don't get on well- their magic is different than ours. Whatever spells they cast- we can't reverse." Millie shrugged.

"I just think it would be really fun if we did St. Patrick's Day here like in the non-magical world. I miss that" she remarked.

"Sorry Mil, but there's no way! The Leprechauns would never come here. HB salts the school grounds on St. Patrick's eve, and everyone knows salt burns faerie folk, including leprechauns. Better stay out of it- the teachers know what's best. Besides, I'm not risking everyone's safety for a prank. I'll figure out something on my own" she said, getting up abruptly and hurrying towards the kitchens. Millie sighed and tapped her pencil thoughtfully against her paper, staring down at her drawing.

A smug little Irishman stared back, his jaunty stocking-clad legs posed in a jig and his hat in the air in welcome. Smiling widely, Millie pulled out her maglet and typed out a hasty message:

Enid-

I know what we're going to do today! Meet me in my room after lights out!

Millie

"A prank?" The word was music to Enid Nightshade's ears as she huddled with Mildred underneath her sheets, passing the flashlight back and forth between her fingers with excitement.

"Sort of" Millie whispered. "Except we won't be doing the pranking" Enid strummed her chin with her fingers and wiggled her eyebrows.

"Intriguing!" she said, drawing out all the syllables in an exaggerated way. Mildred rolled her eyes.

"I'm serious Enid. You know Maud's pranks will be disastrous, so who better than the leprechauns to help her? Besides, they can do amazing pranks and we'll just tell everyone it was Maud!"

"Um. Since when do Leprechauns play pranks. My mum said they wreak disaster everywhere they go" Enid said, her smile disappearing.

"Seriously? What is it with the witching world? Leprechauns aren't dangerous, they're fun! Please Enid, there's no way I can do this without you!" Mildred whined.

"For Maud's sake, I'll help. But we don't want to cause too much trouble, just a little bit" Enid said cautiously. "But I'm not even sure if we can pull this off- I've not even heard of a leprechaun summoning spell"

"There has to be a way" Millie said determinedly. "We should check the library, there has to be something in there on leprechauns" Enid frowned.

"Doubt it. I told you, they don't want us learning about them. But I suppose it doesn't hurt to check. I'll do it at my free period."

The next few days passed in a blur of frustration, after finding absolutely nothing on leprechauns despite several constant searches. Mildred felt very tempted to give up this idea, when she recalled Maud's comment about salting the grounds.

"Maybe we don't have to summon them!" Mildred shouted, startling Enid awake from where she had dozed off over a very long history of Irish witches.

"What?" Enid grumbled.

"We just have to let them in!" Mildred exclaimed. "They are sure to show up if there's no salt, no traps or whatever on St. Patrick's Day to play their pranks and leave gifts!" Millie wrinkled her nose.

"Except that that's HB's job" Enid reminded her. "It's going to be near impossible to get past her. I mean there's no way we could stop her" But Mildred barely heard her.

"I've got a fix for that too. First and most basic prank, switching sugar for salt" she exclaimed, breathing heavily now. "All we have to do is break into her rooms-!"

"Woah, Millie! Going where no girl has gone before-" she switches from looking concerned, to excited. "I love it" Enid states, giving her friend a high five.

They were lucky in the sense that St. Patrick's Eve fell on a Thursday night, during which there was always a staff meeting in late afternoon, after classes, but before dinner. Mildred and Enid had carefully mapped several routes to HB's quarters, just in case. Neither of them had ever been of course, but they had passed the ominous black door several times. Now standing in front of it, Mildred gulped. Suddenly all of the urban legends about HB's quarters popped into her head: Felicity had claimed she kept a real dragon chained up beneath her office to keep her floors heated, another claimed she had once hung a student by their toes next to her desk for a full hour and cast a silencing spell so they couldn't hear her screams….. Mildred's heart beat like the drums of doom she felt thrumming in her veins as she pushed at the door. She fell forward inwards quickly, not expecting to find it open.

"Mildred Hubble" Miss Hardbroom drawled. "What an un-expected surprise"

"I….I was just…wondering….um, if…I could….wait what..what is that." Mildred stuttered, spotting a gold coin on her teacher's desk, winking in the light.

"Nothing you should concern yourself with" she hastily moved the coin into a nearby drawer. Suddenly there was a thud, and there was Enid, pasted to the window directly behind her teacher, gripping the sugar under one arm.

"Uh Miss Hardbroom, I'm really struggling with the luck potion for tomorrow's exam- I just can't seem to get the stirring routine down. Would you help me, please!" she yelled the last bit, trying to cover up Enid's sounds as she attempted to quietly open the window.

"As I have a bit of time before the faculty meeting, I don't see. Why. Not." She said slowly, narrowing her eyes at her pupil. "If I didn't know any better Mildred Hubble, I would say you were….up to something" she frowned. Mildred batted her eyelashes innocently.

"Nope just being a great student. Like always. Studying. In fact, I think it would be much more realistic for the real exam if I practice in the potions lab!" she chattered, moving towards the door. With a sigh, HB rose, and cautiously followed her pupil. The moment the door closed behind them, Enid tumbled through the window, breathing heavily, holding the sugar canister up so it didn't break.

"Ow" she squeaked to an empty room. "That was close"

The staff and students at Cackle's had some trouble when it came to dessert at dinnertime not gagging upon tasting Ms. Tapioca's famous chocolate pudding, which tasted suspiciously salty. Enid and Mildred were in too close conversation to notice, excluding Maud, who felt even more alone than ever now that her pranks were backfiring on her. She had gone up early to bed to work on them some more.

"We'd better stay up tonight to make sure the leprechauns make it here alright" Millie said grinning. "I can't wait! We're going to have real leprechauns right here at Cackles!"

"I know! I don't think I'd be able to sleep tonight anyway. We should keep a lookout from your window- it's the highest point anyway"

"And what has you girls in such a tizzy?" Ms. Cackle asked from behind them, smiling in amusement.

"Oh, Millie was just telling me about St. Patrick's Day in non-magical schools. It sounds like such fun" Enid lied easily, and Millie nodded frantically.

"Ah, yes. I'm sure it's times like this when you miss your non-magic school the most Mildred. But unfortunately we cannot embrace those particular traditions for safety reasons, as I'm sure Enid has already explained" Miss Cackle said sympathetically. "But with spring comes many great fun witching traditions, you wait!" she said, smiling and heading back to the faculty table. From across the room Miss Hardbroom took a taste of her pudding and frowned, eyes moving to the bench where Enid and Millie had been seated, just catching the tail ends of their sashes as they raced to bed. Her frown deepened.

"Ah, is it the pudding Hecate? Do try to grin and bear it. I'm sure it happens to the best of chefs" Ada commented at Miss Hardbroom's sour expression.

"What are you talking about, her face looks like that all the time!" Miss Drill cackled from the opposite side of the table- clinking glasses with Miss Bat and throwing back the contents of her glass.

"I would not try me, Dimity, because I unlike you am in full possession of my faculties" she hissed. And with a firm, "Goodnight" she withdrew to her quarters, unable to shake the feeling that something was very, very, off indeed and that without a doubt it was because of one Mildred Hubble.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hiiiii everyone! I had so much fun writing this chapter- and more tricks and hjinks are in store. I'm obsessed with HB as you all know- so we'll have some fun with her next chappie, but this one ends with a bang. Also I figured out how to do line breaks! Lol i'm technologically impaired! Hopefully this will make things easier! Please read and review!

* * *

"Lights out!" Miss Hardbroom's familiar harsh voice commanded, still managing to make Mildred jump even when muffled by the door.

"Yes, Miss Hardbroom" she said hurriedly, stowing her sketchbook in a drawer and taking a running leap at the bed, just as the door swung open, to reveal Enid's brilliant smirk.

"Enid!" Mildred whispered. "You scared me!" Enid smiled wider, snickering.

"What can I say, I couldn't wait! I was too excited!" she raced to the window, scanning the main lawn. A floating layer of white crystals hung a breath above each blade of grass, covering the grounds. It was as if Cackle's had experienced a light snowfall. "It's a shame we have to wait till midnight though"

"Midnight? Why is it always midnight?" Mildred grumbled.

"It's a magical hour, silly, the last minutes of the previous night, and the first few minutes of the new day" Enid explained. "Plus it sounds cool"

"Right" Millie grinned. "So, did you bring the stuff from your mum and dad?" Enid heaved a her monthly sack of candy and goodies out from underneath her cloak and onto the bed.

"That should hold us all night" Enid grinned. "You got the telescope?" Millie swung open her closet door to reveal and coppery telescope, slightly dented and rusted with age. Together the girls lifted it over to the window.

"I told Ms. Bat I was into star-gazing" Millie said grinning.

"Nice work. See, you're learning from the master" Enid said, bumping her friend playfully with her shoulder. Millie smiled at first, but then felt a pang of sadness.

"I feel bad doing all this without Maud" Millie murmured.

"But we're doing this for Maud remember? Besides, if she knew, she'd ruin the whole thing and you know it! Chocolate Pretzel Wand?"

* * *

Mildred and Enid ate, whispered, talked and laughed their way through the next two hours. Mildred sketched while Enid made shadow puppets on the walls with her magic. They broke several records for most green lime-slime balls in their mouth at once, which looked absolutely like frog gloop when cracked open with the back teeth, but tasted deliciously zesty. Enid told funny stories about getting expelled from her previous schools, including one incident involving a class hamster and a malfunctioning toilet that was so funny Mildred had to stuff a face into her pillow to cover her laughter. Sometimes Mildred would fall asleep and Enid would check the telescope and vice versa, but it wasn't long before both girls were fast asleep, leaning against each other, the remnants of slime-goo and candy bits around their mouths, in a sugar induced stupor.

And as the bell tolled midnight, from the edge of the wood, came the whisper of a sound, so light it could barely be heard, not even by witches. The sounds of little feet, wearing shoes deftly crafted for such stealthy nights as these, stealing through the underbrush. What joy, what bliss did the little men find at the sugar where salt should be? In their little green suits, with fine gold buttons, they leapt across the barrier. They pranced and they danced across the lawn, their jubilation going unheard by the residents of the castle. But they had quite forgotten about another witching tradition. Witches kept cats.

* * *

"Meowwww!" a yowling feline screech jolted Mildred awake.

"Tabby!" she groaned. "What's wrong with you!" Tabby was perched in the window, fur raised as if he had been electrocuted, hissing violently, his eyes intent upon the small figures moving through the grass that only he could see. He growled low in his throat, as Mildred grabbed him off the window sill, following his gaze. She saw nothing out of the ordinary. "Tabby, what's gotten into you, there's nothing there! The Leprechauns must be expecting the barrier to be up so maybe they just don't come here" Mildred sighed. "I guess it isn't meant to be" Suddenly, a thud, followed by silence.

"Enid! Enid, wake up!" Mildred hissed, shaking her friend violently.

"Okay, okay- I'm up what, what is it?" Enid all but shouted in irritation. Mildred shushed her, cocking her head, listening. Silence. "Whoa, I've never seen, Tabs like that. I didn't even know he got anything other than terrified. What's he so riled about?" With a yowl, Tabby jumped off the sill, jumped across the bed and slipped out the door all before Mildred and Enid could blink. Barely glancing at each other, the two friends raced after him into the hall. Hissing, tabby was nosing around the corridor, sniffing the ground and growling every so often.

"He smells something!" Mildred whispers.

"He fancies himself a bloodhound now!" Enid whispered sarcastically. "I bet he's found the leprechauns! Let's go!" Suddenly, Tabby got another whiff. He bounded around the corner and down the steps to the main floor. On the tippiest-of-toes, Mildred and Enid slunk after the cat, whose face was contorted with an instinctual rage that made him almost unrecognizable as the lazy, friendly, loving cat Mildred knew. Something in his face almost made her rethink her plan-almost.

"He's headed for the kitchens?" Mildred questioned. Enid rolled her eyes.

"Oh all this and he's just hungry…." Enid grumbled. Brow creased, Mildred shook her head.

"No….I've never seen Tabby like this. This is different. I think you're right Enid" Mildred said, carefully moving towards the kitchen. "But we need to be careful, on my three count, we're going to open the door, and be prepared for what we might find. Ready, One!"On one they inched closer to the kitchen door. Through the wood they could hear Tabby's hisses get louder. "Two" Enid ground her fingernails painfully into Mildred's palm. "Three!" The girls practically fell through the door into the kitchen and looked about to see…..nothing. Except Tabby, hissing and screeching and making an awful racket. His eyes constantly moved from various points all over the room. "Tabby I hate to do this but, I'm going to have to put a silencing spell on you because you're acting crazy" Mildred said, and murmured the words she recalled from chanting. Instantly Tabby's yowls became silent. Suddenly, there was the sound of Irish laughter, first only a chuckle or two, here and there until the room was filled with the brogue, high and low pitched, soft and loud all at once.

"Thank ye lass" one voice behind the pot spoke. "For silencing that barmy feline"

"We are much obliged to ye" said another from the top of the cupboard shelf. "He was making a terrible fit he was"

"You would think- " said another from in between some unions "That he had never seen a Leprechaun before" Mildred's eyes widened, and Enid clasped her hand over her mouth to keep herself from screaming in sheer excitement.

"You- you mean…you're…you're leprechauns" Mildred stammered.

"Why can't we see you?" Enid blurted.

"Ah… another said from behind the knife rack. "Tis a precautionary measure, little miss. Witches and Leprechauns don't get on well…and as we are in a castle full of witches, we like to be unseen till we are sure you mean us no harm"

"But we don't" Enid said quickly. "Please, please will you show yourselves? See we're the ones who lowered the barrier to let you in"

"Ah, well, in that case…." One by one they appeared, no smaller than a thimble, hanging on pots and pans, crouching in cupboards, or peeping out of drawers, were little men. They were, for the most part, exactly as Mildred had imagined them, with their little dapper green suits with tiny gold pocket watches, top hats with a bright gold buckle. Their little beards were of varying hues, from brilliant red, to rugged rust, to coal black, to wizened white with faces that suggested a range of ages. Their eyes gleamed a beautiful green tinged with gold, and as they smiled Mildred (squinting) noticed a few had a few teeth missing. "We should introduce ourselves" the voice who had been speaking finished, revealing himself to be a red-haired little man with who had pulled himself cleanly from the onions. "My name is Shamas O'Malley, and this is my clan- clan O'Malley" A resounding "Aye" came from the rest of the little men. "And who might you be? Witching students, yes?"

"I'm Mildred. And this is Enid. And yes we're…wait how did you know that?" Mildred said confused. Shamas's smile gleamed white.

"We know a fair bit about this school. You could say our histories are intertwined" Shamas said mysteriously, flicking a piece of lint off of his shoulder.

"Well we've let you in for a reason, and we need your help" Enid continued, ignoring Mildred's frown at his remarks. "We've got a friend named Maud. She's sort of in need of some help creating….well pranks, and mischief that sort of thing" Shamas brightened.

"Say no more, say no more lass, we do that anyway, but in gratitude for your letting us in, we shall take it up a notch. And you can credit our work to your friend" he said, humbly taking a bow. Enid jumped for joy.

"Millie did you hear that? It worked. Maud's going to be the most popular girl in school"

"Oh we have some excellent tricks up our sleeves. In fact, we might just go and wake the teachers" Shamas said, doing a bit of a jig.

"No, no you mustn't" Mildred whispered, her palms beginning to sweat.

"Oh but it would be such fun, ay lads?"

"Aye" resounded from the group.

"That's not a prank, that's just mean" Enid scolded.

"I'm not sure I know the difference" Shamas said grinning. "But you'll get what you wish for and much more. But first, you best get to bed before anyone catches you up and about. But since I'm sportsman-like, I'll give you girls a good head start. 10 seconds? Count with me boys, Ten, Nine, Eight, Seven, Six, Five….." Mildred and Enid bolted out of the room, grabbing Tabby and climbing the steps two at a time. "Four, three" Un beknownst to Mildred and Enid, leprechauns had been in position with their traps; with horns in all faculty bedrooms (including one Hecate Hardbroom), a bucket of syrup poised above their slumbering heads, and a fan and pillow feathers at the ready;. "The old tar- and feather" Shamas had reflected fondly. "I do love that one, and it's been so long since we've tricked witches. TWO!"

"ONE!" Mildred and Enid both lay panting in their beds, bodies tensed, waiting in agony.

"For the record, this is what happens when we don't tell Maud what we're up to. We have no one to keep us grounded from these stupid schemes" Mildred ground out, knowing her lower lip.

"They're definitely getting us expelled. I told you we couldn't trust leprechauns" Enid whispered in annoyance.

"Wait that's it!" Mildred cried, waiting and listening. "Maybe they aren't doing anything. You said it yourself we can't trust them- so maybe they lied about waking the teachers to scare us" she flopped back and relaxed. "Enid they tricked us! They were bluffing"

As Enid opened her mouth to respond a large bugle horn blew throughout the castle, and five separate buckets of syrup were emptied. And the screams of shock and rage were almost as loud as the horn. Mildred and Enid paled as they heard the familiar chuckles. Tabby cowered under the bed.

"Nice knowing you" Enid said weakly, quaking.


End file.
